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After Meg Bell retired from Robinson at the end of the 2017-2018 school year, the search for a new IB English teacher began.

A teacher from Leto High School, Deborah Van Pelt, applied for the position over the summer and was hired. Van Pelt taught AP English classes at Leto before coming to Robinson and was well qualified for the IB position.

“She’s smart and she knows what she’s doing. She’s a good teacher,” Chloe Bailey (’22) said.

Van Pelt has been teaching for 23 years- 18 years as a high school teacher and 5 years as a college professor. However, this will be her first year teaching in an IB program.

Van Pelt enjoys teaching English, and believes that there are always great books to read. Her favorite part about teaching is helping students to improve their writing and discover as much from reading as she does.

“It’s a passion of mine to teach literature,” Van Pelt said.

She is still adapting to the new schedule and classes, as the IB program functions on a block schedule. The transition has been smooth for the most part, her only problem being that her air condition broke, leaving her with a portable AC.

Van Pelt is looking forward to spending more time with her students and learning more about them. She feels that one of the best parts of teaching is getting to interact with students.

“Students have a funny sense of humor in high school,” she said.

Van Pelt’s students feel that she is a well qualified teacher and appreciate her constant encouragement. She pushes students to do their best and venture out of their comfort zones.

“She’s very enthusiastic and happy about teaching and she gives you a lot of work so it’s a very tough class, but she explains in depth how to annotate,” Jacqueline Renaud (’22) said.